Center for Autism and Early Childhood Mental Health Receives $1.5 Million State Grant

With one child in 49 diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) in New Jersey, autism has become an epidemic in the state. New Jersey’s First Lady Mary Pat Christie and Health and Senior Services Commissioner Mary E. O’Dowd visited campus in June to announce a five-year, $1.5-million grant for the University’s Center for Autism and Early Childhood Mental Health to establish the New Jersey Autism Center of Excellence and coordinate statewide autism research and treatment funded by the Governor’s Council for Medical Research and Treatment of Autism.

“We’ve assembled a terrific team of faculty and staff from across the University that will take a collaborative, multidisciplinary approach to coordinating project support for the Center, the clinical research sites and advancing its initiatives,” says Gerard Costa, director of the University’s Center for Autism and Early Childhood Mental Health.